Brace for folding seats



(No Model.)

1 t e e s m e e h s 2 S M NH. ES G m LD u F R 0 F A R B No. 464,511. Patented De0.8, 1891.

(No Model.)' 2 SheetsSl1eet 2.

vA. B. MILLIKEN. BR-AUE FOR FOLDING SEATS.

No. 464,511. Patented Dec. 8, 1891.

' NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

ANNIE B. MILLIKEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BRA CE FOR FOLDING SEATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 464,511, dated December 8,1891.

Application filed March 3,1891. Serial No. 383,548. (No model.) I

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANNIE B. MILLIKEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Braces for Folding Seats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in braces for folding seats, such as the seats of folding chairs and the like; and the object of my invention is to provide a brace which shall support the seat when in use and yet not interfere with its being readily folded or be in the way when the seat is folded.

To this end my invention consists in the device hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a folding chair having its back, seat, and legs adapted to be folded the one upon or against the other and having my improved brace and locking device applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a front elevation showing the seat and front legs of the chair folded up against the back. Figs. 3 and 4 show the chair with the sections of the back folded, and Fig. 5 is a detail View of a locking-catch for the brace. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate my invention applied to a shelf or wallseat.

The chair shown in the drawings is described in my patent, No. 412,400, dated October 8, 1889.

Referring to the drawings, A A indicate two sections forming the chair -back, and which are provided with the integral downwardly-extended legs a a. The sections A A are hinged to a separating-block B.

G 0' represent the two sections of the folding seat, which are hinged at their rear edges to the sections A A and also hinged to each other, and which seat-sections carry the legs D D hinged thereto.

E represents longitudinal bracing rods, which are pivoted at their respective ends to the rear and front legs, so that the seat and legs may be folded without disconnecting said bracing-rods.

It is essential in the construction of folding chairswhich are subjected to considerable usage that the legs should be braced either by the duplication of brace-rods such as For that they should have diagonal braces between said legs.

F represents a brace, which is hinged at its upper end to one of the seat-sections, and at its lower end is pivotally connected to a hinge member G, the other member G of said hinge being secured with the leg of the chair.

H represents a spring locking-catch, whose plate is secured to the leg of the chair adjacent to the free hinge member G, and which is adapted to engage and retain said hinge member, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, when the chair is in the position for use.

It will be observed that the seat and back sections, the diagonal brace, and the longitudinal braces all have their pivotal axes in parallel planes, and the length of the braces are so proportioned that the seat and longitudinal braces fold with them and the diagonal brace folds with the seat, its lower hinged member swinging outwardly, so as to follow the movement of the seat. The chair may therefore be readily folded or extended, and the weight of the seat and front legs when moved slightly out of their folded position causes them to drop in position for use, and the lower hinge member of the diagonal brace is engaged by the spring locking-catch, thus securing the parts in their extended position. The operation of the parts after the initial movement is automatic, and the joints are so arranged that the chair will not unfold or assumeits extended position except by the application of this initial force.

The brace may be applied to many other forms of folding chairs than the particular one herein shown and described, and also to folding seats or shelves or like parts which are designed to be extended into a horizontal position for use and folded upwardly or into a vertical position when not in use. This adaptation of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 6 and '7, in which I represents a seat hinged to the wall J and adapted to be supported in its extended position by means of my improved brace, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 7. into a vertical position, so as to be out ofthe way, as seen by the full lines in Fig. 7, and in such position it may be maintained by means of the locking-catch K.

The seat may be swung up IOO \Vithout limiting myself, therefore, to the use of my invention with any particular artiole of furniture or to precise details of co11- struction, I claim- I11 combination with a folding seat or shelf, a brace therefor consisting of two members of unequal lengths hinged together, the longer of said members being pivotally connected to a seat or shelf, and the shorter of said mem- 1o bers being hinged to a stationary part and adapted when the seat or shelf is in position for use to depend from its pivotal support, when the longer arm forms a diagonal supporting-brace for the seat or shelf, substantially as described.

ANNIE B. MILLIKEN.

\Vitnesses:

FREDERICK O. GOODWIN, O. C. LINTHICUM. 

